Shadow Warrior Review

Slice and Dice

 I bought Shadow Warrior during the a Steam sale after watching a video of it by TotalBiscut. After hearing such good things I went into the game expecting awesome gameplay and action, I was not expecting to see Godzilla stomp around the in background while the protagonist sang to Stan Bush's The Touch. This was all in the opening cutscene by the way, which opened up into an awesome and hysterical retro feeling world. I feel like I should say this now; this is the game that Duke Nukem: Forever should of been. Shadow Warriors starts out as a game that is aware of itself  and brings together all the best things from the great talent that worked on it. From 3D Realms games to Hotline Miami, Serious Sam and Painkiller. The opening act of Shadow Warrior is the perfect blend of all the best things from these games. 

 From the start you are thrown into a bright and colorful world, that is full of secrets that will make you want to look into every nook and cranny to discover them. These secrets can vary from anything from a small collectible statue to a hidden retro pixel are; or from a Monty Python skit to a naked anime girl washing herself behind a waterfall.... yeah.

This is just so beautiful. *wipes tear*

To go along with this beautiful and interesting world is some of the best damn FPS gameplay I have seen in ages. I say FPS but to be honest I found myself using the sword (which I had a hotline miami skin for) the majority of the time. Cutting the limbs off an enemy as you hack them to pieces is extremely satisfying, especially when using a skill that allows you to kill many at once. It's just a brilliant gore fest that makes me wish more FPS games had swords.

 The opening acts beautiful environments combined with its awesome gameplay and quick-witted, self aware humor made me fall instantly in love with this game.

 Now those of you keeping track may have realised that I keep referring all the good things to the games opening act, there being three acts in all. This is unfortunately due to the fact that after that first act the game starts to lose its footing and slowly, then quickly falls apart. The games second act is based in a ship yard and is nothing but crate filled exteriors and dreary grey interiors, a complete 180 from the first few hours of the game. As you continue on new enemies stop being introduced and you are left fighting the same small selection for the entire game, which by the end feels extremely grindy as you fight horde after horde with every new area you enter. 

Not pictured: colors.

 By the end of the second act you are left wanting to never see a shipyard again in your life and hoping that the third act will be better. Those hopes are lifted slightly as you enter a beautiful snow covered mountain landscape, only to be crushed later as you enter a facility that is even duller and unimaginative than the ship yard. The level design finally hits its low point in chapter 12 which has got to be one of the most frustrating levels in recent FPS history not to do with difficulty; you just get lost all the time in a poorly lit and boring area.

 At the beginning of the game the protagonist Lo Wang (yes really) is quick witted and often has enjoyably funny conversations with his demon side kick. As the game nears its conclusion however Lo Wang has evolved into a more serious character, losing much of his wit and charm in the process. Watching official videos and looking and screenshots of this game, you quickly notice that all the imagery is taken from the games first act as if the developers knew they had dropped the ball mid and late game.

 Shadow Warrior is game that begins with an awesome retro feel reminding you of games from your youth such as Duke Nukem 3D and Serious Sam. It then very unfortunately become the butt of its own joke and starts to mirror the repetitive gritty and serious FPS games of the current day, that many gamers are growing very tired of. It seriously is worth a play and even a buy if you find it on sale just for the sword play alone, just don't expect it to blow your mind for the thirteen hours it takes to finish.